Day itineraries
There and back in a day
Tram to the centre for €1.70
To Nice Côte d'Azur airport (NCE) there are direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga and Tenerife South. The airport is by the sea, west of the city, and from its two terminals tram 2 reaches the centre and the port in about half an hour. A single ticket costs €1.70 and there is an AERO return at €10; you pay with a €2 rechargeable card sold by the machines at the stops, because there are no longer paper tickets.
In Nice a car is surplus: parking is expensive and traffic dense. To leave the city there is the regional TER train, which leaves Nice-Ville station frequently throughout the day and runs along the coast from Cannes to Monaco and Menton. That is why it is wise to sleep near the station or the tram. The suggestions on this page are in the Nice page, and the whole region, with inland Provence and the southern Alps, in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
One day for the painters and another for the sea
In the city itself, two full days on foot, by tram and by bus. One is for the painters: Chagall, Matisse and the Cours Saleya, with the Biblical Message at opening, the Matisse Museum among olive trees in Cimiez, Niçoise lunch above the market and the bay from Castle Hill. The other is for the sea: market, hill, socca and boat, with the Cours Saleya flowers first thing, socca by the port, an hour by boat to the bay of Villefranche and dinner on a rock at the harbour mouth.
Less than half an hour by train, the coast to the east: Villefranche-sur-Mer, with its bay and citadel, a few minutes away; Beaulieu, and Monaco. Beyond, Menton, already beside the Italian border. To the west lie Antibes, with its walled old town and the Picasso museum, and Cannes.
By bus, Èze, the stone village perched above the sea, with Lignes d'Azur 82 or the Zou network's 602. By train you get off at Èze-sur-Mer, by the beach, and go up on bus 83 or on foot by the Nietzsche path, a good hour of uphill among pines.
With a car, the interior. The Verdon Gorge has in Nice one of its two nearest airports, although from here it is somewhat further than from Marseille, and the site's plans for the canyon leave from Marseille.
The Chagall closes at midday in November and December
From November to April, the museum day: it opens all year except Tuesdays, when both close, and is the plan for a cold or rainy day. In November and December 2026 the Chagall closes at midday, from 13:00 to 14:30, and that is why it goes first. Winter in Nice often has sun, lower prices and the carnival in February; the pebble beach is left for another season.
From March to October, the market-and-boat day, always Wednesday to Sunday: the boat does not run on Mondays or from November to early March, and Chez Pipo closes Monday and Tuesday. May, June and September are its best months. In August, it is better to swim early at the public stretches than pay for a lounger on a crowded private beach.
Four days without a car, from Cimiez to Monaco
- First day: market, hill, socca and boat, if it falls between Wednesday and Sunday from March to October.
- Second day: Chagall, Matisse and the Cours Saleya, any day except Tuesday.
- Third and fourth day: Monaco by train and Èze by bus, or Antibes to the west, each on a different day.